We Survive on a Pacific Atoll
gasping for air as we bobbed up and down
with our heavy load convinced us that we
would never make the beach. Settling to the
bottom, we cut the mantle and severed the
other end of the valve muscle.
The white ropelike muscle is delicious raw,
tasting somewhat plantlike, and with a sweet
ish flavor. Goniske and I divided and ate it
while resting on a coral head. The large,
slimy mantle and a small, brown, fatty bag,
which Goniske considered the choicest morsel,
were put aside for chowder.
Locating several other clams grouped to
gether on a coral formation, we marked
the spot for future needs with the marble
white interior of the opened Tridacna shell.
The smooth reflecting surface stood out as an
unnatural object on the lagoon floor.
We had barely completed this task when
we heard a call from Frank. I swam toward
him while Goniske carried our prize ashore.
Through the clear water I could see a dark
column of inky fluid extending from the bot
tom and mushrooming to the surface. Frank
had an octopus at bay. We had caught a
number of these grotesque creatures with
their parrotlike beaks and strangely piercing
stares.
Viewed at close range beneath the water
and magnified by refraction, they always sent
a chill down my back. I think we all felt a
little that way, but they were the best of
food prepared a la Goniske, and we took every
opportunity to capture them.
Through the sepia-tinted water I could see
that Frank had planted his spear in one, but
as usual the octopus was wedged in a crevice
with the sucking disks of all eight tentacles
holding fast.
This was not the tremendous deepwater
octopus that sometimes measures 25 feet
across and could easily drown a man. Such
monsters are rarely encountered, but the small
reef species averaging three and four feet
across are common in all tropical waters
(page 76).
However, Frank was about to learn that
even these small creatures can be dangerous
under certain conditions.
Into the Octopus Lair
The water was scarcely eight feet deep. I
relieved Frank of the spear, continuing to
hold it pressed firmly into the saclike body
of the octopus.
The water had cleared, and as Frank swam
down I could see two beady eyes and a pair
of snaky tentacles that were feeling their way
up the spear. His gloved hand slid down the
spear between two roving tentacles and forced
its way into the coral crack to grasp the body
of the octopus.
A cloud of sepia burst in his face and
rapidly spread, momentarily concealing him
from view. Through the spear I could feel the
vibrations of a tugging match going on be
low. Another discharge darkened the water.
The struggle continued.
As the inky substance slowly drifted aside,
I could see Frank with his hand still in the
crevice, his arm entwined by tentacles, his
feet braced against a coral block. He was
pulling with all his strength.
Suddenly his hand slipped out of the glove
and he shot to the surface, gasping descriptive
but not complimentary phrases.
With a firm hold on the body but held in
turn by the tentacles, Frank had discovered
that the octopus had the controlling grip.
Caught short of air, unable to open his gloved
fist to pull it out of the small hole, he had
nearly come off second best.
By enlarging the cavity in the coral we
were able to retrieve the glove and extricate
the octopus. Immediately it twined its ten
tacles around Frank's arm, but we knew how
to handle him in open water.
Frank quickly slid his free hand down the
length of his arm, breaking the tentacles loose
just as you would pry a rubber suction disk
off a window pane. Before they could fasten
again he turned the octopus inside out, render
ing it helpless.
Crabs Captured at Night
The nights frequently proved more pro
ductive than the days. Many terrestrial and
aquatic creatures move around only after
dark. The giant coconut crab and the spiny
lobster were two delicacies that kept us for
aging into the late hours.
During the day the coconut crabs remained
hidden in deep coral crevices. We located
their burrows by the piles of old coconut
husks, baited the area with freshly opened
nuts, and after dark captured the crabs as
they came out to feed.
There was a sense of expectancy in creeping
among the sprouted coconuts and coral boul
ders, watching for the shine of crab eyes as
our light played over the rough ground and
dense vegetation. Sometimes the slow, de
liberate movement of the big crabs revealed
them to us, or again it would be the sound
of one dragging a coconut.
The problem was to secure the crab with
out losing a finger. A large specimen could
nip a chunk the size of a silver dollar out of
a fibrous coconut husk or crush a good-sized
coral stone to powder.